THE GLUTTON’S ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH GREMOLATA AND PARSNIP PUREE

Roasted Cauliflower with Gremolata and Parsnip Puree

The humble cauliflower. Often boiled up, waterlogged and dumped in cheese sauces of varying quality. Whilst I do love a tip top cauliflower cheese, I wanted to do something less conventional.

For this tasty treat, the cauliflower is roasted to concentrate its delicious but delicate flavour. It’s simple but you’ll be amazed at how tasty that cauliflower is just by itself.

The dish is actually fairly healthy, but fear not my gluttonous friends! It packs plenty of excellent textures and flavours that will leave you salivating.

Recipes for roasted cauliflower and gremolata from Sylvia Fountaine on Feasting at Home.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Roast Cauliflower

1 large cauliflower

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Gremolata

Parsley (1 cup when finely chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (grated or finely crushed)

1 lemon

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Parsnip Puree

2 Parsnips

Cream

A pinch of Nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Other bits!

1 large courgette

2 rashers of bacon

Roasted hazelnuts (finely chopped)

Method

Zest the lemon and add it, along with the juice of half of it, to a bowl. Add the parsley, the garlic and the olive oil and stir together. Adjust seasoning to taste. Set aside for later.

Chop the courgette on the diagonal into slices about as thick as a £1 coin. Brush both sides with olive oil and add a small pinch of small to one side. Set aside for later.

Chop the bacon into small, even pieces. Set aside for later.

Preheat the oven to about 200C

Remove all the leaves from the cauliflower and trim the sides of the stem to leave the length.

Cut into ½ – ¾ inch thick slices. You should be able to get at least three steaks from a large cauliflower. The additional florets around the edges of the head can be reserved for other cauliflower recipes.

Place the steaks on a baking sheet lined with parchment. On both sides, brush olive oil before adding a generous amount of salt and a little pepper.

Roast in the oven until golden and tender. This will be around 25 minutes.

Whilst the cauliflower is roasting, make the parsnip puree. Peel one parsnip per person. Remove the inner core and chop into equal sized pieces.

Steam the parsnips until soft (about 5 minutes) before placing them in a food processor.

If you can’t access a steamer, boil in a saucepan instead. Drain. Add back to the saucepan to drive off the excess water in the parsnip. This prevents the parsnips from being waterlogged meaning that the puree as a more intense flavour. Keep the parsnips moving in the pan to ensure that they don’t stick.

Blitz the parsnips in a food processor, adding the cream, nutmeg and seasoning, until smooth.

Cook the courgette on a griddle until nicely charred on both sides. Fry off the bacon pieces until crispy.

Plate the dish. I like to drizzle the gremolata on top the cauliflower and to scatter the bacon pieces on top of the parsnip puree. Add some chopped, roasted hazelnuts for a great extra taste and texture.